A Filmmaker Evolves

By Sara Nguyen

When Chris Roewe began filming Chaminade football games and creating highlight reels for Chaminade football players while he was still himself a high school student there, he could not have foreseen that eventually he would end up filming NFL players in his current position as a producer/editor/videographer for the LA Chargers. But the clues to a young person’s future path in life sometimes reveal themselves early, and for Chris, this was undoubtedly true. “Starting in fifth grade, my favorite thing to do with my friends was to make movies. They were definitely some of the most fun times I had growing up,” he says. Raised in Los Angeles by parents in the entertainment industry, Chris doesn’t recall being specifically encouraged to do something entertainmentrelated, but he does acknowledge the possibility that his environment may have had some influence, if only by virtue of who he came in contact with. “In sixth grade we did a school project about the Epic of Gilgamesh where they gave us creative freedom to do whatever we wanted,” he recalls. Chris and a friend decided to film their own version of the story, “with funny, sixth-grade humor, complete with a battle scene. I had never had that much fun doing a school project in my entire life,” he says. The friend’s father? Filmmaker David Lynch.

His childhood environment is only one part of the equation, however, and for Chris it truly may not have been the most important part. Because when he thinks back on his earliest experiences making films, Chris mainly remembers the fun he had, and the pride he felt after editing his school project and presenting it to his class. Regarding the Epic of Gilgamesh project, Chris says, “I was never really good at drawing, I played music…but this was the first time I edited a film, put it all together and created a product that I could show to other people and be proud of. I’ll never forget that feeling. It was something I felt like I was good at.” Chris continued to make films on the weekends with his friends throughout middle school, and high school as well.

Attending Chaminade for high school provided Chris with more experiences that further encouraged his love of filmmaking. He calls his film teacher Paolo, “a huge influence,” and “one of [my] favorite teachers,” saying, “her film class taught me so much about composition, lighting, different types of cameras, storytelling specifically. That was the first time I took a class on filmmaking and learned the fundamentals of what it takes to make a film.” A business economics class led by Mr. Gideon in which students had to come up with a novel business idea gave Chris another opportunity to use his filmmaking skills. Says Chris, “My friend and I came up with the idea of doing some video highlight memories of the school year, putting them together on a DVD and selling it like you would a yearbook.” While in the process of creating the video yearbook, the Chaminade football coaches asked Chris if he could film their games, and Chris eventually started filming highlight reels for players to use for college recruitment and sold films of the games to parents as memorabilia.

College led Chris to Boston University (his father’s alma mater), where he continued to do short films and was awash in the sports fanaticism that Boston is known for. He took part in a study abroad program that allowed him to intern at Fox Sports Australia, which provided Chris with his first professional experience combining his love of sports with his love of filmmaking. Chris later interned at TD Garden for the Bruins and Celtics, “shooting the Fan Cam for the jumbotron,” and left college with a production assistant position for the Boston Red Sox. He eventually returned to California where he worked for Fox Sports LA as a production assistant, moved to Fox Sports San Diego, and eventually worked freelance doing virtual reality filming (which included assignments as varied as filming NASCAR races, and Super Bowl LI) before landing his current position working full time for the Los Angeles Chargers where he creates, shoots and edits their video content.

While Chris was originally drawn to the immediacy, fast pace and quick turnover of his work filming various sporting events, he has come full circle in his work for the Chargers and is currently doing a more documentary style of filmmaking, with more of a storyline — a narrative style that he still loves. Recently, he worked on off-season documentaries about two Chargers, following them to their hometowns and delving more deeply into their personal histories, their journeys to the NFL, and their lives and goals outside of football. Says Chris, “I love the story of someone being able to overcome something — of being doubted and not thinking they can get to where they are. So many of these players have what seems like no chance to get to the NFL, so it’s mind-blowing to hear about how they did it.” He adds, “I don’t think we’re doing a good enough job, as a whole, in the sports industry, of telling the stories of these players. I think we’re doing some, but I want everyone to be doing more of it. I’m more than happy to be a part of doing that.”

While Chris’ professional aspirations are evolving, so too is his personal life – he recently got engaged – and he is looking forward to the next phase in life. Although the journey he has been on with his career thus far has been rewarding, he’s also welcoming the changes that may come in that arena as well. Says Chris, “I enjoy being able to pick up a camera, go out, film, edit, and have that excitement of being part of a sports team. I got that with the Red Sox in my first year out of college, and I’m having that now with the Chargers. But I wouldn’t write off the idea of someday going into a traditional film career, being part of a movie or a series…there’s something about bringing everything together to make a movie that I miss. At some point I would like to get back to that.”